I have been waiting very patiently for someone to license Simpletech's tablet PC design that runs Linux and can retail for $200 (and comes in blue). Nothing, which is part of the reason I'm actually looking at an Android phone, the next best thing (and to the idiots at the computer store who told me Androids can't work with my cell phone service AT&T because of how they transmit data, AT&T stores sell three different Android units, so fuck you. I expect you guys to actually know this stuff, not exhibit Best Buy/Geek Squad level knowledge of tech).

This week, techies started squeeing because of news from India that they had engineered a Linux tablet. Cost out the door? $35. Cost if it becomes mass produced? $20 or maybe even $10. The prototype was built for $47.

I was like, Whut? I mean, you can't even get a decent cell phone for that price. This is touch screen, can be solar powered, and running embedded Linux (no internal storage, you'd need a card or thumbdrive or cloud access). God, I hate cloud computing. Word processor, video conferencing, web browser. No other information is forthcoming. We do not know the CPU, is it touchscreen or pen input, internal memory, even screen size, although the pics give us a hint.

In tech circles, India's chief product is vaporware. They announed a $10 laptop last year that never materialized. Earlier this year, an Indian start-up called Notion Ink announced a tablet called the Adam. It hasn't moved past the reference stage. In fact, it has already been announced that no major companies have shown an interest in this $35 tablet. Is it because they are afraid of new empowering tech, or because they've seen the designs and think the plan is nuts? Usually, I suspect the former, but in this case, I'm firmly leaning towards the latter.